Vay-Cation, All I Ever Wanted!

For the past two weeks I've been relaxing in the House of Mouse. It's one of my favorite vacation spots, and something I look forward to each time we go.

We only get to do this every other year, so we make a big production out of it. This year, we took it easy, sleeping in a bit and making sure we'd gotten passes for all our favorite rides ahead of time.

The food (especially in Epcot's Italy) was awesome, and the wather was actually kind to us. The only day it rained I took a day to rest and the boys went to Disney Quest without me.

And, of course, we took lots and lots of pictures. This is not one of them.

And my youngest managed to get over his fear of roller coasters, first by playing Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, then by getting on the roller coasters at Disney. He now thinks they're awesome.

But he still won't ride Tower of Terror, and since he won't, I can't. I'm not sure I understand why he's afraid, though. He rode the roller coasters, after all.

We had a great time, and can't wait to go again. But for now, it's back to work for the adults, and the kids? They get to do SUMMER BOOK REPORTS.

Muahahaha!

I love summer.

Disney, La Nouba, and Oberon

We're back from Disney World, and guess how things went?

The kids are slumped at their keyboards, Dusty is wearing his wrist brace and puttering around the house with a confused expression, while I?

Was trying to enjoy Enbrel Monday, aka Nap Day, when a certain orange fuzzy creature of pure evil decided he'd missed me so much he had to turn me into a human pretzel while I slept, thus waking me up because my head was on my pillow while my feet were trying to crawl up my butt.

But I have to say, we had a blast. I rode Harry Potter for the first time, and got to revisit some old favorites like Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Soarin'. The only bad part was we had rain almost every single day. For the most part, it rained in the afternoon into evening, and didn't impact our plans too much. I mean, it was a major pain, and I was soaked through more than once, requiring a rest day at the parks and again once I got home, but the last day?

The last day was our one day at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, where Harry Potter is. So of course it started to rain before noon.

And it rained.

And rained.

And rained.

Which meant my kids, who love water rides, moped the entire dreary, wet way out of the park that night, because even though they got on Harry Potter, and Despicable Me, and The Simpsons, they did not get to go on the water ride.

Oy.

One of the best parts of the trip was going to see La Nouba for the first time. Oh. My. GOD. It was so good! The little girls with the funny cup thingies on ropes (you had to be there), and the clowns with the boxes, and the trampoline artists...

I can't decide which part I liked best, so I'm going to go with all of it. If you ever have the chance to see it, do it. You won't be disappointed.

I also learned some stuff I didn't know before, which was cool. For instance, at Animal Kingdom, we learned that tigers are the only large cats that mate for life. We also learned that there is actually a vegetable out there that M wants to eat.

So guess who's got to learn how to make zucchini and mushroom stir-fry over white rice with ginger sauce? 

All in all, we had a blast, despite the rain and my son turning into a pod person. (And if you don't get that reference, gods, I feel old.) But it's good to be back home. I have characters whispering in my ears, and if I don't start writing soon, Oberon might get testy. So I start work on Siren's Song tomorrow, and will turn in The Wizard King by the end of the week. One of the best things to come out of the trip was some inspiration for Siren's Song. We ate lunch at Mythos, a restaurant in Universal, and the interior gave me some pretty good ideas for how Cassie's palace might look once they get there.

And for everyone who wants to know, the third point of view in Siren's Song will be Raven's. So guess whose book is after Oberon's?

June? It's JUNE?

Where the hell did the rest of the year go? Tell me I'm not the only one thinking, "Crap, the little stinkers are out of school in one week!"

So much for afternoon nookie. Hmph.

Anyways, June is going to be GAH! BUSYBUSYBUSY! because I'm doing Lori Foster's Reader & Author Get-Together followed by Disney with my family.

I leave tomorrow for RAGT on a road trip with Stephanie Burke and Joy of Joyfully Reviewed, where we will have much fun laughing at each other.

Yup. It's Road Trip 2.0! Unfortunately, this version is minus the PJ, as she had commitments she couldn't get out of.

We miss you already, PJ.

So if you're looking for me in Ohio, I'll be in the lobby, or at the bar, or the Carina Press game Saturday night, or the book singing Saturday morning, or in the Samhain boardroom... at some point. I'm still going over my schedule and making sure all my little duckies are quacking like they should be. I'm also giving away a prize at the raffle, with a Nook tablet in it, as well as print copies of Bear Necessities and Cynful.

And yes, I will have posters.

I get back home, and two days later I head to the House of Mouse with my family.

(Yes, I'm crazy. You doubted that?)

Please forgive me if I don't answer any emails during this month. Things are going to be crazy insane. I have a release June 10th (Throne of Oak), plus the con, plus family vacation, and when I get back R and I both have doctor's appointments.

I am so totally sleeping during July.

I'm going to do my best to get a blog post up when Throne releases, and when I get back from Disney. Until then... have a great start to your summer, and I'll see you at Lori's!

P.S.: I'm hoping to send The Wizard King to my betas before I get back from Lori's. If I can, I'm going to try and send it out today.

Meat Grinder and Blog Hop

The rough-rough draft of Guardian Angel is done!

It's still sitting at around 80k, which is a bit more than I thought it would be. We'll have to see what happens when I'm done with the Meat Grinder, which should be next week (I hope). Then it's off to the beta readers, and hopefully to my editor beginning of January. I'm probably going to submit it to Carina Press first. After that, if I don't start on Throne of Oak soon I think my Carina editor is going to hunt me down and tie me to the keyboard. I might get potty breaks.

Might.

Oh, and when I'm done with Guardian Angel, I'll be starting work on The Hob.

He's not that kind of elf.

So I'll be taking the last two weeks of December off. My kids will be home and hyper for the holidays, so I usually don't get much done during that time period anyway. I may start the outline on Throne of Oak, but that would be about it. 

It will give me a chance to clear my brain of angels and get it into Robin Goodfellow.

He's not that kind of elf, either.

P.S.: Don't forget, tomorrow launches the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop! I'll be posting bright and early. You could win a copy of Blood of the Maple, or the Grand Prize: a color Nook, pre-loaded with tons of books!

I'm Ba-ack!

Did you know that I'm an insane woman? Because only an insane woman would go straight from a conference to Disney World.

Yeah, I'm that kind of crazy.

Let's start with the Lori Foster Reader Author Get-Together. My first night there I was a day early because this was my first time at Lori Foster and I had no idea what to expect. When I made my travel arrangements, I thought it was like the RT convention where I had to be there early enough to register. What I didn't know was that the Lori Foster con has you register late afternoon, early evening on Friday, so I wound up spending a little more time in my room than I planned. I totally should have gone to the lobby to see if anyone else was as early as I was but I chose not to, mostly because I was still hurting from the flight, getting my rental car, getting my scooter in the rental car, figuring out how to turn off the emergency brake in the rental car, and feeling like an idiot.

(I mean, who doesn't know how to turn off the emergency brake?)

The good news is I was nice and relaxed by the time I actually went to the con. I had a wonderful time chatting with Leah Christiansen and her husband; Kathy Andrico (the photography lady for the con, who took a lovely picture of me at the book signing); and Bridget Locke, aspiring writer and all-around nice person. We even wound up hitting the bar for drinks until midnight, something I never do. The whole vibe of the con is completely relaxed, more like a family reunion than anything else. I had a great time, and I will definitely do it again.


A couple of pictures from the con:

This is Drea Becraft, who could only stay for a brief time before heading off to a wedding. It was great seeing her even if she couldn't stay for long.

This is me at the book signing, with my cover flats and the two posters I decided to bring. I wasn't certain if people would like them, but from the reaction I got to them I may have more done. Are there any particular covers of mine you'd like to get in poster size?

These are all the authors who were still available for the group photo by the end of the con. I'm off in the left-hand corner peeking around the chair. Getting to where the photo was being taken was tricky in my scooter and I almost didn't make it. When it came time to do the pictures for the individual publishers, I made sure I was out of the scooter and front row. I'll update later once I have those pictures.

I get home from the Lori Foster con, pleasantly tired, and walked straight into chaos. You see, this is the part  where I prove to you that I'm an insane woman. My husband was finishing packing for us to leave the next morning to go to Disney World. so it was time to do laundry, make sure all the toiletries were packed, make sure all of my batteries and chargers for my scooter were ready to go (I need to take three to make it all work), etc. Honestly, Dusty did most of the work, but I did just enough to feel really tired by the end of the night.

So was off to Disney World and our timeshare was gorgeous. We bought into Bay Lake Towers, and I have to say I'm glad that we did. We loved our stay in the Contemporary last year, but it just isn't something we can afford to do all the time. However, we go to Disney World every other year to visit Dusty's family, so buying into the timeshare made sense for us.

One of the things I forgot about Florida was what it does to my hair. I have naturally wavy hair, and when I'm at home it looks like this:

Not too bad, but a little on the frizzy side. In Florida, it looks like this:

Yeah. That's attractive. Luckily I own lots and of lots of hats.


This year I was smart. I stayed off the roller coasters, but nothing could get me off Test Track. I'm not nearly as broken as I thought it would be, but I'm still hurting a bit. It was great seeing Dusty's family again, and the children had a blast.


We're back home now, and the only other travel plans I have are for the Authors After Dark conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in August. That one seems to be a little bit more like the RT con, but like the Foster con, it will be my first time there so I'll have to see.


By the way, Dusty and I noticed something this morning. Our children are home from school until late August.

That was the way Dusty reacted when he remembered. I'm not going to show you the picture of how I reacted. Some things might just break the inter-webs.


Edit: Sorry for any typos. I'm still using Dragon NaturallySpeaking and it's interesting AutoCorrect. I thought I caught them all, until Dusty started to read it and pointed some out. Let me know if there are more and I'll fix them. I've read it through four times and haven't seen any, but sometimes you can't see the trees for the forest.

Oh look! New picture(s)!

The Carina Press authors! That white cowboy hat of Leah Braemel's was hard to miss. Have I mentioned she's a terrible stalker?

Mating Games Available Now!

Okay. I'm not really here. Considering the time and the day I'm betting I'm... at Chef Mickeys having waffles and telling the kids to stop bouncing at least until the caffeine kicks in.


Anyway. Mating Games is available today, and I wanted to make sure that a post went live about it while I was gone (and I figured out how to do a scheduled post with Blogger while I was playing around... sweet!)

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Red Hots!

ISBN: 978-1-60504-765-2
Length: 272 Pages
Price: 15.00
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Cover art by Anne Cain

Claiming your mate? Best. Game. Ever.

The Wallflower
Emma’s loved Max for years, but to him she was invisible. Now she’s in business—and out of her shell. Max returns home to become the Halle Pride’s Alpha, and he finds Emma has blossomed into—his mate! Taking her out for a bite ensures she’ll be his. But first she must convince the Pride she has what it takes…

Sweet Dreams
Getting attacked by some she-devil wasn’t part of Becky’s plans when she agreed to attend a masquerade. In a few slashing moments, she learns things about the man she loves that she never suspected. When Simon rescues Becky from one of his Pride, he finally confirms that she’s his mate. Carrying her off gives him the chance to mark her as his. But a strange illness threatens to turn their sweet dreams into a nightmare.

Cat of a Different Color
Adrian has friends, a thriving business, and the occasional Saturday night date. Life is good. Until Sheri hits town. Sheri knows Adrian is her mate, but she’s running from an ex who’s got the teeth to take whatever he wants. With Adrian by her side, though, she might just survive—if he doesn’t become lunch…

Warning: This title contains a hot blond Alpha, his tall, dark and handsome Beta, and a Puma willing to do whatever it takes to protect his mate.

You can find out more and purchase the book at my website, www.danamariebell.com! The buy links say pre-order, but they'll take you to the book. I'll update those links when I get back from MickeyWorld.

VA-CA-SHUN!

Hope this is the view from my window!

WOOT! I'm packing for The House of Mouse! I'm going to be away in Florida tomorrow until the 7th, so the newsletter will be late and the purchase links for Mating Games won't be added to my website until the 8th. The pre-order links will remain and should still lead to the books. I'm going to double-check today and make sure they're all up; the only one that should need to be added would be MBaM. Don't quote me on that though, I could be wrong. When you're being nibbled to death by ducks it's hard to remember the cheese.

Don't go there. That way leads to my thought processes, and people have been known to go mad when they do.

I'm gathering all the extras that need to be packed, like chargers, medicines, muzzles for my little monkeys. You know, the usual. My kitchen table looks like a bargain sale at Happy Harry's. I still need to dye my hair, do my toenails and pack books on my Nook. Tomorrow the dog and the cat go into doggie/kitty daycare and the kids have a half-day, which worked out great for us.

Odds are good I won't be blogging or doing anything on-line for the next eleven days or so. I think internet connections will be spotty at best, non-existent at worst. If it's absolutely necessary to get hold of me I'll be spot-checking my email on my cell phone, but answering them will be a stone cold bitch and might take me a while since the keyboard on the phone wasn't designed with arthritics in mind. I promise I'll post a few pics of me and my family once I get home.

Have fun, and I'll talk to you all when I get back!

Honey, I'm HO-OME!

Yup. I got Dusty to wear the t-shirt in the Bahamas. He got stopped so many times. People wanted to know how he benefited. For those who can't quite read what it says: My wife writes romance novels. I benefit. Big time. (P.S.: The lady in the picture is his mom, but I forgot to ask if it was okay to post her picture. Hence the blue sunshine smiley over her face.)

The first thing we noticed about the cruise ship was how beautiful it was.


The second thing we noticed was the size of our cabin.


Yup. Four people, two under the age of eighteen, in that room for three nights. We spent very little time in there, thank God. I won't even go into the size of the "bathroom", or how I had to sit sideways on the bed to do my makeup in the "bedside" mirror. But it was clean, and quiet, so I can't complain too much. I just wish we'd known exactly how small the rooms would be. We might have upgraded rather than going with this. Getting the scooter in and out was an exercise all by itself.

So we left our tiny cabin and went exploring. Guess what the first thing my family found was?


Yup. The video arcade. Le sigh. M wanted the pool, R wanted the video games. R won, and M had to wait to go swimming. M was not happy. M took it out on the poor, defenseless dirt bike riders in the virtual world. Poor virtual people. How many times can you be run over by a five year old before you give up and cry like a little girl?

But we eventually made M happy.


Night-time swims will do that to you. He collapsed soon after into an exhausted little heap, wet, happy and clutching his stuffed puppy. R on the other hand had to have his PSP taken away before HE'D go to sleep.

That let us know we needed to try harder. Heh.

Day two of the cruise: NASSAU!

Yup, sunny, hot Nassau. Which, by the way, was NOT designed with mobility scooters in mind. I didn't take a picture of the "handicapped-accessible" curbs. I was too busy cursing the fact that I couldn't get up them. That kind of curtailed our enjoyment of Nassau. But what I saw was beautiful. A tip for those of you like me who are mobility challenged? Try some of the tours where you ride a boat or a bus for most of it. Don't try and sight-see on your own unless you're in a wheelchair with tall wheels and a nice burly guy to help you on and off the sidewalks.

We skipped the beach in Nassau thinking we'd hit it in Cocoa Cay the following day. After all, it was the Bahamas, right? Beautiful sunny and hot are like synonyms for the tropics. So we hit the pool for a little while before I left to get my hair done for the formal dinner with the family. Which, unfortunately, I don't have a picture of yet. I need to scan it in after I unpack. We had a lot of fun, met family Dusty hadn't seen in a while and I'd never met, and afterwards took the kids back to the pool. Once again the PSP had to be removed from ten year old hands before sleep took place.

Maybe he'd sleep after a day on the beach, right?

Last day of the cruise! We head to breakfast, eager to bury ourselves in warm sand and swim in turquoise oceans. This image didn't bother us too much.*



After all, sunny, Bahamas, beach. Then the couple next to us told us that the trip to Cocoa Cay was canceled due to the weather. Apparently they use a ferry to get you on and off the island and the seas were too choppy to allow the ferry to safely meet the cruise ship. We were handed a modified "ship compass", a sort of what's-happening-today outline. The boys were disappointed. As R pointed out he really wanted to bury M in the sand. And M really wanted to be buried. We quickly headed off a meltdown by offering a day by the pool. The boys agreed and we hit the pool deck, ready to enjoy our day.

And the pool deck hit back.

Sunny my very large tushie. I thought I left October behind but, damn it, it found me. I'm pretty sure it was between fifty and sixty degrees after wind chill, and the wind was fierce. If not for a quick grab my new red hat would have become a dolphin's latest fashion accessory. But the kids wanted to swim. Insisted on it, in fact. So we compromised. We'd allow them one hour, then back to the cabin for warm, dry clothes. So I parked my behind in a lounge chair, covered my bathing-suit clad self in a long towel and tried not to shiver too much. People in jackets and long pants walked by and stared at the crazy people in the pool, two of which were my children.

The beach picture I promised you? This is pretty much it.

After five minutes M decided it was too damn cold and hit the hot tub for the remainder of the hour. Much more stubborn, R pretended he was a polar bear until his tummy started to hurt. Then he, too, hit the hot tub. Of course, after five minutes he decided he felt better and got back in the freezing water. Gah. We dragged them out as soon as the hour was up. We then forced them to go to the children's play area of the ship, where we dropped them off for a few hours of supervised fun while we hit the casino (I still can't win at slots, damn it) and Dusty headed off for a relaxing massage. Dinner that evening was fairly informal. I somehow wound up at a table full of men. Not that I'm complaining, but most of them were either jail-bait or just past jail-bait. It wasn't a big deal, since I have nephews who range from eighteen to two years old. I know how to talk to boys. ;D

Unfortunately my back was beginning to make its presence felt. Forcing the scooter up and down ramps with my legs and my back, plus standing around in heels for family pictures during the formal dinner was taking its toll. I took a Tylenol with Codeine because I realized I might not be able to walk back to the cabin without it. Then I ordered the tiramisu for dessert without reading all the ingredients.

Did you know they soak the ladyfingers in Kahlua on that ship? I didn't. I had to be dragged back to the cabin. I still couldn't walk but really? I didn't care. Dusty took the kids back to the kids' area where they did some kind of pirate thing. He went to visit his family once they were signed in.

I went to sleep. It was a happy sleep, until The Dread Pirate M got back to the cabin and landed on my butt.

The next morning arrived way to early. We were told the night before that our call number is Lavendar Two, and we have the luggage tags to prove it. After breakfast (which is from six a.m. to eight a.m. this time) we are to go to a lounge and wait for our call.

We missed breakfast. We got there at eight fifteen, by which time they'd already called our number. The crew sighed and shook their heads at us when we told them we hadn't heard any announcement in our cabin. "That's because we don't do ship-wide announcements anymore," explained one crew member. Apparently everyone would respond rather than just the ones they wanted and that created chaos. So instead they wander through the lounges holding up a card that has the different colors on it and yell for you.

Yeah. That works. Not.

Off the ship, through customs, on the dock and damn it's cold out! Florida isn't supposed to go below seventy, damn it! I'm shivering in a maxi-dress and a shawl, and my kids are huddling together for warmth. Off to the airport earlier than we'd planned since they pretty much boot your ass off the ship with a smile and a fond farewell, and did you know you can't check your luggage in more than four hours before your flight? Home sweet home, order pizza because no way in hell am I cooking, and sleepy-bye for this tired, sore writer.

And we didn't give R the PSP either. He slept like a baby.


*P.S.: Ignore the date/time stamp. I didn't realize it was screwed up until I looked at the pictures. Some have the right day and time, some don't.

Last Call Before Boarding!

Tomorrow I leave for sunny Florida. I leave behind my Bunny, knowing he's in good hands. The big confrontation scene is coming up next, followed by some luvin' and some reveals. I'm thinking Bunny may shatter the 60k mark by the end of the Meat Grinder. I'm not sure how close he'll come to 70k, I just know I'm nearly at 60k and his story isn't over yet. But he WILL be done before NaNoWriMo hits, I know that for sure.

I'll be without internet, computer or phone for (Friday, Saturday, Sun... gah!) FOUR DAYS. All I'll have is my PDA and my camera (the phone part of my PDA won't really work at sea unless I sign over any future grandchildren to the tenth generation or pay a really hefty fee).

So if anyone needs anything now is the time to get a hold of me.

To tide you over while I'm gone, here's a sneak peek at Bear Necessities:

(Inspiration photo for Tabitha Garwood, heroine of Bear Necessities)

Oh shit. Oh, fucking shit. Tabby waited as Glory rinsed her hair out. My mate is out there. My mate. What’s even weirder? My mate is a Bear. And I have orange roots.

She was damn near hyperventilating. When she’d called dibs on the dude little did she know she’d actually get him! And now she was going to wind up meeting him for the first time with orange roots. She was going to look like a half melted Skittle. She grabbed Glory’s arm. “Y’all tell him I’m dead. Please?”

Glory grinned. “What is wrong with you?”

“Remember the whole woof woof thing?”

“Yeah.”

“That guy out there?”

Glory’s eyes widened. “He’s a woof woof too?”

“Er, no. More like grrr grrr.”

Glory blinked.

Tabby shook her head. “Never mind. That whole werewolf mate thing in romance novels?”

Glory’s mouth did that really wide “O” thing. “Really? He’s your mate?”

“Yes! And I am having serious hair issues.” She put on her best pleading look. “So, tell him I’ve been killed in a horrible vegetable dye accident.”

“Tabby!”

She held up her hands in mock-prayer. “Pleeeease?” She blinked, trying to look desperate. Hell, she probably did look desperate.

“Excuse me.”

Tabby quivered. That deep, rich voice rolled over her, making her think of wicked things involving dark melted chocolate and lit candles. “No customers allowed in the back room!”

Glory, bless her heart, threw a towel over her face, hiding her hair. “Sorry, you’ll have to wait out front.” Of course, now the towel was soaking up the still running water. She was going to be drowned by a towel.

“Is everything all right in here?” The man’s voice was pure sin, deep and slightly gravelly. “Why is her head covered in a towel?”

“Please. Tabby will… be a while.” She could hear Glory clap her hands and tugged on her shirt, desperate to have the water turned off. “Why don’t you hit one of the diners in the area for lunch? Maybe do a little shopping? Um, oh! Frank’s Diner has the best burgers in town!” Finally someone turned the faucet off saving her from a watery grave. She could just see the obituary: Woman Drowns In Towel.

There was a deep, happy sigh. “All right, if… Tabby, was it? Will be more comfortable. When can I return?”

“Uh…” Glory was obviously at a loss. Cyn was the one who usually took care of Tabby’s hair.

“Try around seven.” Cyn sounded amused, the bitch. “You can take her out to dinner. In fact, Tabby has the rest of the night off.”

I do?

“But she has to be back in to work by two tomorrow afternoon. Oh, and the lady loves steak.” Tabby groaned behind her towel. That’s an understatement. “Glory, see to it he has our address, okay?”

“But–”

“Trust me, just do it.”

“Okay, boss.” The curtain swished, but the scent of Bear remained. Glory must have stepped through the curtain.

“Ladies, it was a pleasure meeting you.” The curtain swished again. The Bear was gone.

“Oh honey. You are so screwed. Literally.”

“Cyn.”

The towel was whisked off her head. Glory bunched it up, wringing the water out over Tabby’s face. “You always were a greedy bitch. I should get Cyn to leave you with orange roots.”

Tabby sputtered and wiped the water away from her eyes. “Don’t worry, Glory. Some day your prince will come.”

Glory blinked her big blue eyes, trying to look innocent. Tabby had seen that look more than once just before something outrageous came out of Glory’s mouth. “God, I hope so. What would be the point otherwise?”

Cyn started laughing.

Tabby shook her head. “You are so bad.”

Glory smiled her sweet, happy smile. “I know.”


Have a good weekend and I'll talk to you all on Tuesday!

Who Knew?

That getting ready for a cruise could be such a pain in the hiney?

I spent most of yesterday doing the "pre-boarding" check-in that has to be done prior to three days before the cruise, picking drink and food packages, double-checking that, no, my scooter will NOT be a problem for the cruise line and making sure that any land-sea excursions, which cost more than the birth of my firstborn by the way, are all lined up and accessible by wheelchair.

Pantpantpantpant.

I think I did more paperwork for a four day vacation than I did for the mortgage on my house.

The cruise we're taking is a family reunion on Dusty's side, so we're also making sure that we don't forget to meet and greet there as well. And thank God I bought a back-up dress for the formal reunion dinner. The one I originally planned to wear needs some alterations and I just don't have time to go get them done. (I can't sew. I'm about as crafty as a doberman pinscher.) Suits had to be bought for little boy bodies and one man body, causing much moaning and groaning in the Bell household. But the major indignity the poor males in the house had to suffer through?

Shoe shopping. Yup, none of them had dress shoes. I've heard less complaining at my local Pathmark ("What do you mean you only have on cashier on a Saturday?"). At this point I'd happily trade the paperwork for the shoe shopping.

Whaddya say, sweetheart? Want to trade?

Anyway, I'll be without internet from October 15 through the 19th. Despite my grumbling about the paperwork I'm really looking forward to this. It's two firsts for me: I've never been on a cruise and I've never been to the Bahamas. I'll make sure I take lots of pictures to post so you can see my pasty self under a palm tree. I figure with my pale skin I'll be bright red in about .3 seconds!

Decisions, Decisions

Today the migraine is at the "Okay, I don't hate hate you anymore" stage, which means I can go into the refrigerator for some iced tea without iron spikes jabbing into my eyeballs. I still can't leave the house, though, so for the third day in a row SuperDad is taking the kids to the bus stop. (I say SuperDad because he's doing it without caffeine.)

Now I have to decide if my brain will let me work or not. Bunny is starting to chatter again and I really need to work on him. If I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo in November I have from now until the end of October to finish, polish, polish, polish. And in mid-October I'm going on a family-reunion type cruise with Dusty's mother's folks, so that will cut some time into the writing.

Huh. I was going to say maybe I'll take a stab at it, but all things considered that's a bad thing to say. I think, instead, I'll ease into it. I'll try some editing, see if my head explodes or not. If you're on the Eastern seaboard and you hear a kaboom, don't worry, it's just me.

Update from SuperDad: Apparently M decided to crawl around on all fours at the bus stop, baaa'ing and pretending to be a sheep. He would then stop and stare at the other kids because, well, he was an evil sheep. *headdesk*

Free Reads, Contests, and Blogging

Monday, Monday! I have quite a bit going on today before I officially go on Christmas vacation.

Where to start?

1. The contest to name The Book Formerly Known As is now officially closed. I'll be posting the winner tomorrow, so keep watch!

2. Guest blogging: I got asked by Novel Thoughts to do a guest blog. The topic: How did I come up with the idea for The Wallflower? You can read my answer here.

3. I've posted a blog on The Samhellion Blog about Italian traditions, and how they seem to be changing in my family. You can read that here.

4. And just in case you aren't tired of reading things I've written, I've got three (yup, THREE) free holiday reads for you! The Ornament: Emma and Max is now live on The Samhellion website! Parts Two (Simon and Becky) and Three (Adrian and Sheri) are on my website.

5. And I'm going to be at the Samhain's Moderator Appreciation chat tonight on the Samhain Cafe from 7-9 p.m. EST.

6. And, of course, edits on Very Much Alive (which I will probably start tomorrow, all things considered).

See? THIS is why I need a vacation, lol!

Vacation, Part One

Me and my boys, Day Two

Day One: The Airport

Flying Southwest was nice, and one of the better flying experiences I've had. I'll definitely use them for going to RT next year. The security people were pleasant, and the ability to pick your own seat meant that the kids pretty much got to sit where they liked (for the most part). The little one got the window seat, with the big one right next to him, which left Mommy in the aisle. Daddy got to sit alone.

I'm pretty sure we're going to reverse that on the way home. ;)

The house we rented is very nice, with two master bedrooms, in a nice, quiet neighborhood that's only ten minutes from Disney. There's a supermarket and a Walgreens right around the corner, with a Seven Eleven with a gas station right near I-4. We got in, unpacked, ate at Friendly's and collapsed.

Day Two: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Did you know that there is such a thing as torture in Disney? It's called walking Magic Kingdom (or any of the parks, really) with an arthritic knee.

I've only had the knee problem for about a year now, so I'm still getting used to the fact that things I did two years ago easily are not quite as easy as they used to be. We only spent about six hours roaming Magic Kingdom, but it was enough to let me know that I would be paying for an ECV (Electronic Convenience Vehicle) rental the next day.

The kids got to see Mickey Mouse, which was the highlight of their day. Both kids loved Pirates of the Carribean (Cap'n Jack was the highlight for me) and Haunted Mansion, which is also newly renovated and had Dusty grinning like a loon. Pizza Hut for dinner and a nice, long rest for Mommy and Daddy, and we were ready for the next day.

Day Three: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

ECV's are a thing of beauty, even if you can't take them park to park. However, we got there early enough to get me one.

Randy was upset because we didn't get to see the fireworks, but we promised him we would the next time we went. Dinner at the San Angel Inn was lovely, and the one thing Dusty requested for the trip. We returned, tired and footsore, to find Dusty's father, stepmother, and aunt had arrived on schedule. Everyone liked the house, and we sat and chatted for a bit before turning in.

Day Four: Magic Kingdom and Epcot

Never ever ever arrive after noon if you want an ECV. Just sayin'.

So another five hours wandering Magic Kingdom without an ECV. Needless to say, we'll be leaving ealier from now on. We got me one for Epcot, however, so I got to drive to the fireworks, which were spectacular.

Dusty's Aunt was with us for this outing. We made it to The Land, and we got to see the hydroponics they're using to grow vegetables. They had this form they grew a pumpkin in that was making it grow Mickey ears, which wow'd the kids, especially the older one. Aunt J then introduced us to the Garden Grill for dinner. The southern fried catfish was excellent, but Dusty preferred the steak. Our older boy got four autographs while there, so he was a happy camper, while the little one was upset because he'd managed to pop his ten dollar (TEN DOLLAR!) balloon.

He wasn't as upset as Daddy, however.

Day Five: Animal Kingdom

ECV's rock.

We spent the entire day in Animal Kingdom. We got to see the live musical show of Nemo and rode the Killamanjero Falls rapids ride. The good news is we suckered... I mean, we GOT Dusty to ride a water ride. The bad news is, he complained about getting wet off and on for the rest of the day.

Dusty and our older boy rode Everest twice (thank you, Fast Pass), and we all rode the Dinosaur ride. The little one wasn't as afraid as I thought he would be, but Dusty says it's because he had his hand over his eyes half the time. So no guilt gifts this time out, thank God. And everyone loved the Safari.

So far, everyone is having a good time. There's a little bit of sunburn going around, but nothing major (SPF 70 is a good thing to have around here). We're taking it easy today since our older boy developed blisters (note to self: almost as important as SPF 70: comfy shoes). We're probably doing Medieval Times tonight, then tomorrow... who knows? We'll decide tonight. Dusty's Mom will be staying with us for the next few days, so we'll see what she'd like to do.

Oh, and the reading I'd thought I'd have time to relax and do? HAH! So far the only thing I've read is a map and my GPS signal.

Oh, well. As soon as I get home I'm hitting MBaM for some of the new releases. ;)

P.S.: Next post, I'll put up a pic of Dusty and the boys together. I think I took one of the three of them outside Haunted Mansion, near the wall of names when you first get off the ride.